


Ace of Swords

by FlyingCaptain



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Frenemies, Friendship, Gen, Swordfighting, Time Travel, Time War (Doctor Who)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-07-07 22:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19858846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlyingCaptain/pseuds/FlyingCaptain
Summary: A small trip to a medieval-themed moon SPA leads to quite an interesting encounter with the Master, but not the one you're expecting.





	Ace of Swords

_“Just a little stop on the Mooncastle of Paloodian, what could possibly go wrong?”_  
_Well, a lot of things_ as the throwing dagger struck on the wooden door at one inch from the Doctor’s head might have said. The object was thrown by a masked figure in dark clothing standing on the other side of the armoury, and the same figure was now taking a few steps towards the Doctor. He then took off the wooden guard mask unveiling quite a familiar face – _and goatee_ \- to the Doctor’s eyes.  
  
“What a very pleasant surprise” the figure said, cracking a smile and walking further until he was one step from the Doctor, who was now watching him with a mixed expression between seriousness and nostalgia.  
  
“Master.” the Doctor said, leaning against the door, which was the only exit from the room.  
  
“Doctor.” the Master pulled out the dagger from the wood “I see you’ve changed into a young fellow.”  
  
“Glad you noticed.” The Doctor took the dagger from the Master’s leather-gloved hand and tossed across the room so neither of them could have easily reached it from their position, then swiftly locked the door and hid the key in his pockets.  
  
“What are you doing here?” he then said, lowering his voice and crossing his arms “I won’t let you out until I am sure you don’t mean any harm to these people”  
  
“My dear, dear Doctor” the Master chuckled and shook his head, before taking a few steps away from the Doctor and hanged his mask on a wooden shelf “I’ve just escaped from this clever time loop trap of yours. Surely you don’t think I’m up to something already”  
  
_So, the Axons_. It seemed such a long time and many lives ago from the Doctor’s perspective and in fact it was – a distant memory on the back of his time lord brain, but still vivid on its colours as if it was a fortnight ago.  
  
“Oh, come on!” the Doctor exclaimed, rolling his eyes.  
  
“I do have a life, you know. What about you, Doctor? I assume you’ve managed to repair your TARDIS and escape from your captivity on Earth”  
  
“Yeah, well, sort of” the Doctor pinched his left earlobe and looked away, trying to be vague about his future “But that was a lifetime ago. Six or seven of them, actually”  
  
“But are you _really_ free from the Time Lords’ leash?”  
  
“Oh, I’m fairly sure of it, believe me” his tone changed into quite an ironic one and nodded a couple of times towards the other Time Lord.  
  
“How?” he quite sounded like an old schoolmate craving to know how his other mate fooled the teacher once again.  
  
“Burned them all” he said, suddenly lowering his tone.  
  
“You, Doctor? Interesting.” The Master raised his eyebrows, genuinely surprised “You see, I dare to say you’ve quite improved with age” he reached for a pair of blunt swords hanged on the foils and tossed one to the Doctor “Let us see how far it extends to your physical qualities, Thete?”  
  
The Doctor grimaced at the sound of that name - the Master was obviously teasing him on purpose. But was he seriously trying to fight his way out of the armoury? Typical, it was _very_ him.  
  
“Oi. Proper names, no tricks nor games”  
  
“Very well, Doctor” the Master held his sword in front of him and adjusted his stance, while the opponent did the same.  
  
“ _En garde_ ” the Doctor said, then steel clashed with steel making a screeching noise at each hit. The Master initially gained a few steps of terrain pushing the Doctor against the door, but when he touched wood with his back he dodged the following blow and jumped behind his opponent, switching positions.  
  
The Master dealt stronger blows than the Doctor remembered, he had to admit it. And adjust his moves accordingly. He tried parrying his opponent’s blows, deliberately moving backwards until they were a few steps away from the stone wall. He then dodged another blow switching positions once again, except this time was more of a proper move than just simply trying to dodge a blade. The Master seemed to be impressed by the performance of his opponent, though.  
  
“I may be one regeneration behind you but I’ve lived far longer than you imagine, Master”  
  
“Perhaps” the Master fought back a couple of swings, gaining a little ground “You surely have improved since our last sparring session on Gallifrey, Doctor, but are you good enough to beat me?”  
  
“Oh, I am _very_ good” he then swiftly stepped forward and disarmed his opponent, cornering him by pointing the blade to the Master’s throat and thus ending the fight.  
  
“Brilliant old you” said the Doctor with a smile, before lowering his blunt blade and putting it back to its own rack along with the Master’s.  
  
“Oh well. Time to go.” He walked to the other side of the room, then faced the Master again “ _For both of us_. I’m watching you” the Doctor then gestured the last sentence, pointing two fingers to the other Time Lord. While the Master didn’t seem too pleased by the idea of being watched, he rather enjoyed confronting with the Doctor during the swordfight, it was kind of an essence of the relationship with his frenemy across the universe.  
  
“I sincerely hope we meet again very soon”  
  
“Yeah, definitely” The Doctor then turned away and made a few steps towards the exit.  
  
“Ah, Doctor…” the Master’s voice interrupted him from unlocking the door.  
  
“What?” he frowned when he turned and saw the Master’s concern on his face.  
  
“You see, it was a pleasure to have a little chat with one of your future selves. Nevertheless, I have one more question for you, Doctor, about _my_ future.”  
  
“Well” The Doctor slightly tilted his head “You know better than me you’re not supposed to do that. You were the brainy one at the Academy.”  
  
“ _Will the drums ever stop_?”  
  
Both the Doctor’s hearts skipped a beat. Drums? It couldn’t be. He never mentioned it until- _oh, of course_.  
_The Time War._  
The Doctor went deadly serious recalling the horrors of the War and how it changed everything it touched, bending and tearing apart Time itself altering, rewriting or even erasing people’s existence from reality battle over battle. Including the Master, across all his lives.  
  
“No” he said, lowering his voice “I’m sorry.”  
  
Just one question was now troubling the Doctor’s mind: would he ever acted as he did all his lives, if he knew at the root of the Master’s downfall there was some Time Lord implant dating back – or forward – to the Time War and not his own doing? Would he have shown mercy, instead of watching him die? There was no easy answer.  
The Doctor unlocked the door and walked away, leaving the Master at whatever plan he was plotting against the human race before their encounter.  
  
He missed him.  
  
  
  
  



End file.
